Tests at the Freshers’ Fayre showed that 1 in 8 students at the University of Gloucestershire has Chlamydia, that’s above the national average of 1 in 10. Sometimes it’s not always best to be above the average!

Let’s be honest, even the word Chlamydia has a nasty ring to it. If it was in reference to anything else I think the majority of us still wouldn’t like it. As far as the rumour of a woman in Ireland calling her newborn that, I sincerely hope that it only ever was a rumour!

People don’t like talking about STI’s much and as it is, the word doesn’t really pass anyone’s mouth in a serious context without a certain amount of flustering and red-face. But regardless of whether we like to discuss it or not however, its there, just like a pink elephant in the room.

This year at Freshers Fayre, we were visited by our regional Chlamydia service who gave out hundreds of tests to students to go and test themselves discreetly in the toilets.

Naturally names and identities of participants were kept confidential however we can reveal that of all the tests we did 1 in 8 people tested positive for the infection. Given that the national average is 1 in 10, this leaves the University of Gloucestershire with the highest rating in the country.

The good news is the university medical centre offers testing that couldn’t be simpler. By the door on the left hand side as there are a number of self-testing kits. Simply pick up a kit, go to the toilets and perform the discreet test. (a swab for women, a urine test for men) and then deposit the test back in the box in the medical centre. You can receive your results however you want to, simply tick the box of your preference.

Chlamydia is a bacterial infection that can go undetected a lot of the time. It rarely shows any symptoms and a lot of people that carry the disease can go for years without realising they have it. By the time it’s discovered, for a lot of people it’s too late. They may decide that the time has come to have a baby, only to find that they cannot conceive because their fallopian tubes have crumbled, or their sperm has become sterile.

Fact. If you are sexually active and either you or your partner has slept with more than one person, you are at risk.

This university has a lot to be proud of. Being the largest distributor of an STI in the country is not one of them.

Get smart. Get tested.

Written By Lizzie Harkness

I know we’re having a bit of an Indian summer this year and I for one couldn’t be more grateful for these last few rays of sunshine that we seemed to miss out on during our actual summer, but imagine my surprise when driving through town the other day to see that some stores have already got their Christmas decorations up! It felt more than a little surreal seeing as I was still wearing flipflops! Are people getting desperate in the credit crunch or are they simply devoid of any sense of Christmas’s real meaning?

I find it extremely irritating when our culture becomes so commercialised like this. The spirit of Christmas seems to have lost all of its religious connotations and now just seems to be about spending as much money as we can and spoiling ourselves. Shops are desperate to get in on all of the action as Christmas has been whittled down to nothing more than a money maker for them.

Baby Jesus has long since been taken over by Santa Claus, and the nativity scene is a non-contender up against pictures of stockings and fireplaces and reindeer. When exactly did we lose ownership over a tradition we have had for over 2000 years? Christmas has a lot of meaning to some people and that meaning seems to get lost in all the tinsel, wrapping paper and the latest ipods.

In other news, we launched our Blue and Blue bands this week which was a joint venture between Charley and myself this year. We have reinvented the original band and given it an overhaul and now it also carries our important new Student Union message: ‘Know your Limits’. The bands are two pounds each and represent our University identity. The profits of the So stay true to Blue and buy your bands!

A growing concern for the Students Union in recent times has been the number of academic offence breaches that the university are calling in to question.

 A ‘Breach of assessment’ is basically anything that the tutor considers to be straying from the students original and individual work. The rules for academic assessment are put into place to ensure a fair marking scheme and that the grade the student achieves is fully representative of their capabilities. 

However if the work is not deemed to be as such they the student is asked to attend a hearing to ascertain whether or not the work is applicable to a breach disciplinary.

The Students Union offers support for each student that finds themselves in such a situation s called to a hearing but at times the demand has been so high that the sabbaticals have had to hand over cases to full time SU staff members.

But why the sudden rise in the trend?

It could well be that new technology such as ‘Turn It In’ is making it much easier for the lecturers to catch offenders; they simply need to type in a few lines of text from the assignment arousing suspicion into a generator and in a matter of seconds the computer can generate a whole list of possible sources that the text has been lifted from.

Maybe it is the rise in fees, now students are paying so much they are near on desperate to get it right first time around. There is a lot of pressure in the university to do well and some may find themselves crumbling under it.

While it is a good thing that deliberate offenders are getting caught, the most worrying thing about all of this is the amount of students that inadvertently get swept up along with it.

Sharing work with a friend can cause major problems when it comes to assignments. If a piece of your working bears similarities to another’s, then it is likely you will both be called into question, and subsequently punished unless there is irrefutable evidence that you knew nothing of copying.

A lot of students have fell prey to trusting their friends with their assignments only to discover when a letter arrives on their door that the friend in question has lifted parts of their work.

It is not necessarily done out of spite either, if the friend is really struggling, they may think its alright or that the lecturer will never notice. But what a lot of students don’t realise when breaching regulations in anyway, is that the lecturers have marked thousands of essays and are very skilled at detecting things. Even the slightest change in style of the writing can alert them to foul play.

Below is list of breaches that a student may be called into questioning for. The most frequent cases here at this university seem to be plagiarism and collusion.

The good news however for anyone who has been called to a hearing, deliberate breach or not, is that the first punishment is only designed to be demonstrative. It will result in a deduction of marks or failure of assignment, depending how severe the offence but it will not show up on your records. This is because the university want to give students chance to learn from their mistakes.

However they are a lot less tolerant of repeat offenders and the penalties are reflected in this. A second time offence will result in failure of the module, - something which could have large implications, particularly if the module is core – and a third and final offence will result in ejection from the university.

The Student Union provides leaflets detailing the help a support that we offer for students facing breach of assessment. You can pick one up from your SU office or go online to yourstudentsunion.com

Having marked on average thirty assignments on the same topic it is easy for lecturers to recognise similarities in students work. If these similarities are cause for concern, they can flag them up on suspicion of collusion. This is the collaboration of two or more students working together to produce a piece of work and is therefore not wholly their own.

If there are sudden differences in the language used or the lecturer recognises a paragraph then the student in question will be pulled up on suspected plagiarism. This is the attempt to lift pieces of writing done by others from any resource and pass it off as their own. It can even be detected by entering a few sentences into specialised search engines. It can even be as easy as a case of bad referencing. So follow the referencing guidelines carefully. It is important to remember that Plagiarism can be called up from anything from and entire peice of work they believe not toe be the students own, to a few lines of text that arouse suspicion.

Resubmitting a previous assignment or lifting certain parts of it, counts re-presentation. Therefore the work you will have presented does not count as sufficient work put towards that particular subject.

If you write an assignment for a friend this is impersonation. To be sure of not getting called up for this don’t give your assignment to anyone else or offer to write any part of a friend’s assignment for them.

Making up facts or data to support your own work is known as fabrication. This is the reason that the regulations specify that referencing is important. A lecturer can easily check up on facts that you have specified in your assignment so always be truthful and don’t bend anything to support your own theories. Remember that anything you do include must be properly referenced. 

The Students’ Union has been working on a responsible drinking initiative throughout the summer months and after all the furore of Freshers has died down now seems the perfect time to showcase it.

‘Know Your Limits’ is a new campaign from the Students Union aimed at making you all aware of the possible dangers of alcohol and how it can effect your University life. We hope ‘Know your Limits’ will have the same impact as the ‘No means No’ campaign has had.

If our bodies were bottomless pits we could consume alcohol until the cows come home but the sad fact of the matter is everyone has limits as to what they can put their bodies through and here at the Students’ Union we want to be the ones to encourage everyone to say we know what ours are.

‘Know your limits’ is a campaign and phrase that we hope will become synonymous with the Students’ Union identity. It’s not a condemning title; the intent of this brand is not to preach to students about not drinking. We know that part of being a student is linked to enjoying beer and being sociable.

You’ll make friends for life here and the memories you gain through your University days will stay with you for life.  After all, there are only certain times in our lives when we can live freely just as we do here at University. For most of you alcohol is something which you are able to keep under control and enjoy.

But while we are all having a good time and enjoying everything extra curricular that comes with University life, we hope that students can own this phrase and use it as a declaration; whatever part of the university or Union they belong to.

There are however some of you who may find yourself in a mess due to alcohol. Every year we have to support students who have ended up in trouble after a night out. This could be through having become a victim of an assault or theft, becoming a perpetrator of crime including vandalism, theft and anti social behaviour.

You may know from the ‘No means no’ campaign that alcohol is a major contributor to unwanted sex. We also know that on rare occasions students end up in severe health problems from alcohol and worse still there are a number of cases of students having died as a result of alcohol poisoning.

Although the instances above are rare there is a serious issue for everyone about the long term impacts of alcohol on our bodies. Although you may be able to sail through University life enjoying a few drinks every day, you may be doing long term damage.

The thinking behind this initiative is not to condemn drinking but to make sure that our students understand the consequences of alcohol, we are young adults and we should take care of ourselves while we have a good time. Who could refute that?

Next month we re- launch the brand new Blue and Blue bands which are looking better than ever thanks to an exciting overhaul of the original bands. We have coupled them up with the new slogan in the hope that the brand becomes synonymous with the Blue and Blue identity.

There is a lot to be proud of by being part of this University and any extra curricular product of it. We are all here to have a good time and leave our mark. But let’s not push our limits.

Well the biggest and most hectic two weeks of the year are drawing to a close as I write this and I’m exhausted but happy. I hope all of you are all suitably wiped out form all the fun and festivities as well!

It was so nice to see everything we’ve worked towards for the past few months come into fruition over this fortnight and I think in particular Leanne Davies deserves a big hand for all the hard work she has put in to bring you guys the best line up and Fresher’s fortnight Gloucestershire has ever seen!

I’ve definitely missed sleep and I plan to spend the next few days getting reacquainted with it, however I’ve been running round like a blue arsed flie for so long that I almost forgot (or maybe not wanted to accept!) that tomorrow I turn twenty two. (twenty two!?)

I thought my last birthday was hard to top having Scott Mills at park is going to be one helluva present. Hopefully I wont be too asleep on my feet to enjoy it!

A high point of the fortnight (or maybe that’s not the most apt word to describe it) in particular for me was seeing how many people took part in the free Chlamydia testing during the Freshers Fayre.

I really want to take the stigma of STIs this year as in todays society, if you are sexually active they have to be seen as a reality. Hopefully by now you have already seen my posters and logos and been attacked with condoms and stickers too!

You can pick up free condoms from any of your SU offices so please help yourself. Remember don’t be silly, cover your willy!

This issue ive been busy compiling memories of the fantastic trip I had to America this summer wit hteh university. Make sure you read all about it.

So for another issue farewell and we’ll see each other soon!

When I found out that for my first week on the job as a student union officer, I would be travelling to America I couldn’t quite believe it. This was a privilege that no officer before me had ever gotten to experience and I was hugely excited about the great opportunity. The idea behind the trip was part of a bigger project that I am part of which is entitled ‘Change Academy’. The purpose of going to America was that Dean Hubbard the president Northwest State Missouri University had provided inspiration for the

To begin with I was a bit more of a hindrance than a help as I got lost in the airport after wandering off without my passport and boarding pass and then not being allowed back into departures by some very jobsworthy American (yes I did cry a little) but once we were out of the airport and the stony faced security guards had been replaced by cheery Americans who all said ‘howdy y’all’ we began to have a great time!

Over the next few days we were introduced to various members of staff, dined with the ‘big cheese’ and were shown everything the campus had to offer. It was exactly how you picture it from films and TV shows but somehow it doesn’t prepare you for the real thing.

The campus wasn’t a campus by any English definition. Students had everything they needed within their little community there.

They had a gigantic sports stadium where they did all their games (I was delighted that the American football lads were doing training with their tops off as we happened to walk past!) their equivalent of the Students Union was bigger that the entire FCH campus and the teaching students actually had an on-site school to train in!

But the real purpose behind the trip was to learn from the President, Dean Hubbard, about how he worked over twenty-five years to make groundbreaking changes to his university that put it higher above anyone else in terms of values and Student engagement.

President Hubbard ensures that every decision made within the university is done so on the basis of Student feedback and ensures a Student is present on every meeting held within, from finance to examinations. Students approve everything before it is carried out.

One of the things that interested me in particular was the ‘textbook scheme’. Similarly to here a problem in America is the cost of buying textbooks that are required for course on top of the fees students are already paying. To combat this, the university charges a minimum fee on top of its fees so that when students arrived back for the term. Their books are packaged and ready for them, having been bought at bulk. Saving money on course books is something I am looking into this year as I know what a hassle it can be so this was very helpful to me.

There are so many fantastic things to write about our trip that this one column doesn’t do it justice.

One thing that’s important to say was how positive the students were about everything. The sense of belonging and worth was evident to see and was very awe inspiring. Dean Hubbard has really worked wonders and hopefully in time the things we learnt can make very psotive changes to the University of Gloucestershire too.

In America a problem similarly to here, buying books  for their course is very costly

I was quite nervous about spending so much time with two of the universities most important and powerful people and being in such close proximity for six days.  As it happens however, neither of them can get through a meal without spilling their food down their shirts so we were all in great company! But seriously they were fantastic to go with and we all had a great time getting to know each other and learning all about the university.

Everything operates slightly different over their and we were particularly interested In northwest as the President of the university has worked hard for over 25 years to make changes  that ensures their university value shine above the rest.  

Having a full time job in the summer has definitely been a shock to the system (I spent last summer lazing around on beaches in Greece for two months!) but being a Sabbatical the jobs we have are so fantastic that its not hard to get used to (plus I get to come to work and see Leanne Davies’ beautiful face  every day!) We have a wide selection of great  

campaigns this year, welcoming back some old favourites in the shape of No Means No and introducing my brand new baby, the SHAG campaign!  SHAG week is going to be  the 24th of November, but until then we are giving you just a little taster during Freshers week in the shape of our 4play night! All I’m going to say is come with an open mind! 

I am currently looking for people to join my WAC crew, (Welfare and Campaigns) which is new this year if you are interested come and sign up at the Students Union stall at Fresher’s Fayre or pay me a visit or drop me an email. There is no limit to the amount of people who can join, and it is great stuff for you CV too! Freshers festival is going to be fantastic for Freshers and returning students and we all like to have a drink to ease us into the evenings –and believe me I was no saint in my Fresher’s week! - but its important to take care and look after yourself; we want this to be a time for you to remember, not one you’ll want to forget! If you have any worries or problems about anything, please don’t hesitate to pop in and see me or call or email me on the details below. 

Well I think I have exhausted this article now, all that’s left to say is have a great Freshers!!